Barcelona will play at Camp Nou after approval of the UEFA Champions League

UEFA has given Barcelona the green light to play Champions League matches at the partially rebuilt Camp Nou stadium, the La Liga giants said on Wednesday.

The news comes just days after Barcelona announced its long-awaited return to competition at the stadium, which was beset by construction chaos, after more than two years in exile.

The Spanish champions will host Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou on December 9, just over two weeks after the stadium’s reopening against Athletic Bilbao at home on November 22.

Barcelona said in a statement that “UEFA has accepted the request as all necessary requirements have been met.”

The return to Camp Nou will end a messy saga in which Barcelona had to repeatedly postpone the announced reopening of the stadium as construction delays and failure to obtain safety permits curtailed their plans.

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The Catalans were humiliatingly forced to play two matches at their 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff training stadium in the opening weeks of the season after failing to obtain the permit they needed for Camp Nou due to security reasons.

Since then they have been playing in the 55,000-seat Olympic stadium on the Montjuic hill.

Barcelona will open Camp Nou against Bilbao with a temporary capacity of 45,401 spectators, with room for 105,000 when the top level is eventually completed.

It opened the stadium to 23,000 fans to watch a training session earlier in November as a test event in the reopening process.

The delay in work means a huge financial loss for the club, which needs the income from the stadium to regain stability.

Financially troubled Barcelona is spending an estimated 1.5 billion euros on reconstruction.

Published on November 19, 2025